A Theif's Quarrel: Izzy
by PandaMan1234
Summary: A collab with Doctor John Smith, detailing a struggle between Izzy and Dapper as they fight in Inkopolis. Can Izzy find justice among the thief's devious plots, or will he end up another obstacle removed?
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Not much to be said here: welcome Izzy's perspective of The Dapper Thief and Ballad of The Fallen crossover. I consider this non-cannon for the purposes of Ballad of The Fallen.**_

Izzy landed on the other side of the wall with a small thud. Shaking off the pain, he stood up and observed his surroundings. He had left early in the day than originally planned, and small specks of orange still dotted the sky as the sun adamantly refused to set for the night. Izzy stiffened when he heard approaching footsteps, and ducked behind a trash can, discreetly peering through the small open slot at the top. What he saw was baffling to say the least; it was a human. He was walking alone, a small black bag held low to his side, and he was mumbling to himself.

Feeling conflicted, Izzy stepped out from his hiding spot and called out to him. Twirling around, Izzy could see his face etched with emotions that changed from startled to curiosity. "And who the hell are you supposed to be?" He spat, a smirk evident on his face. "Guess those creatures were lying bout' extinction now, weren't they?"

Izzy was shocked; he obviously was referencing the squid creatures whom Izzy had seen multiple times, and did he mention extinction? Not entirely sure how he even communicated with them, (as he spoke English with a thick british accent), he resorted to sputtering out the only thing he could think of. "What's in the bag?" Izzy bit his tongue and knew he set the man off, as his eyes constricted and he snarled "What's it to you?" Izzy gulped, there obviously was no peaceful way out of this.

Izzy knew he was in a bad spot, the guy obviously wasn't out to make friends, and the look he was giving was anything but tame. Gathering confidence, he drew himself up to full height and looked him straight in the face. "I said, what's in the bag? You seem to be the only person walking around the plaza besides me, and you are half-concealing it."

The man stepped closer, voice quieting to a threatening whisper. "And if there was something that displeased you, what are you going to do about it?" Gritting his teeth and resisting the urge to knock his out, he simply said "Stop you."

The man grinned widely. "Oh, and why and how would you do that?" Izzy glared at him "I already know that answer, but I'm going to state the obvious, is that a stolen item?" The man said "Just a small loan I borrowed to pay for rent... nothing special." Izzy had received his answer; now it was time for action. Narrowing his eyebrows, he said "Maybe I should return what you borrowed for you, after all, wouldn't want it getting missed."

Time seemed to slow down for Izzy, his breathing seemed slower and he could see the man's left hand reaching for something concealed under his coat. Izzy tensed, and the man had begun to draw his weapon, Izzy's arm snapped out, enclosed around the man's wrist, and twisted hard.

Izzy had been right; at least partially. It more or less looked like he was trying to pull a foam dart gun on him than anything else, none the less, he increased the pressure, and hearing a sharp *CRACK* he knew he broke at least one bone in his hand. The weapon clattered to the ground as the man looked at him with a mixture of anger and pain. Kicking Izzy sharply in the knee, he released his grip, taking no real damage from the attack.

Izzy grumbled before attempting to get him to surrender "Drop the bag and go back to where you came from, nothing else in your body has to get hurt!."

"Go to hell!" The man shouted before pulling an actual handgun on Izzy. He fired two shots, aimed at his legs thankfully, and... missed completely. The man blinked, and even Izzy was shocked at how fast he had moved. Rushing towards him, he dodged bullet after bullet until only a soft *click* was heard from the gun.

Grumbling in anger, the man pulled out what looked like a triangular prism filled with paint before throwing it am him. Izzy dropped to his knees, hands covering his face as the makeshift bomb exploded, covering Izzy with a weird slimy substance. Wiping his eyes and standing up, he was about to finish it when - the man was gone. Izzy twirled, checking every direction, but sure enough, he was nowhere in sight.

Hissing fiercely, Izzy withdrew to a side alley, brushing the weird liquid off himself.

Izzy hid out in the alleyway throughout the night, his pride more wounded than anything else. Catching only small streaks of sleep, he rubbed his eyes as he noticed the plaza starting to liven up. Inklings were going about whatever business inklings did; while Izzy watched passively.

A loud ringing resounded through the plaza, garnering the attention of the majority of the inklings in the plaza. A logo flashed on and off the screen, before a shot of a studio with two female inklings appearing. "Hold on to your tentacles…." One began.

"It's Inkopolis news time!" The other finished.

"You may be wondering what has caused our early newscast…"

"And it's a big shocker!"

"There is a thief loose in inkopolis!"

"Police believe the string of crimes are related, but who can be sure?"

"Check back later when we reveal the battle stages for today!"

"And as always…"

" _Stay Fresh!"_ the duo ended together.

Izzy stood up, grimacing at the task ahead of him. He had met the same thief, he was sure of it. And it was his job to stop him.


	2. Chapter 2

Izzy had no clue where to start. Obviously, he was a thief, so he was going to go SOMEWHERE and steal SOMETHING... but what? Based on the tidbits of information he had gathered, he had recently stolen an emerald dubbed the Crystal Cogburn. Where was he to strike next? Izzy didn't want to involve the police, this was not only a dispute between humans, but they also tended to slow things down. He needed swift justice.

The taunting note left behind after the man had escaped didn't do his pride any favors either. After days of second-guessing and doubting, he came up with a spot. The Museum d'Alfonsino. The place was brimming with art and relics that a thief like himself couldn't possibly resist, especially if he is seeking to boost his reputation.

Goal in mind, Izzy left as soon as the sun dipped beyond the horizon.

oo0OO0oo

The Pieces had clicked together. As Izzy had prepared his hiding spot, he check his watch. 12:00pm. Izzy knew he wouldn't exactly be intimidating the second time they met, and he couldn't afford the thief pulling a gun again, ASL or not. To counteract this, he made some deals with Spyke. In exchange for some super sea snails, he got a pair of gloves to match his bodysuit, and a tron-style looking helmet. The best part was that the helmet lit up with almost the same shade of blue his ASL did, and even came equipped with a pair of holographic pixel eyes. Despite the fact he was out for justice, his inner teen kicked in and he couldn't resist.

He didn't really understand why super sea snails were uncommon, after all they were about 20 ft off shore, and Izzy could hold his breath long enough to collect one without even tapping into his ASL capacity. Back to the mission at hand, Izzy refocused on what he suspected to be the prime target; a statue of a giant eel thing. For whatever reason, it had been recently moved in... and was made of solid gold.

Izzy's main worry was a vision interrupting him, he had started to have them not too long ago, and they only served to distract them whenever he thought about it.

*SNAP* A crack was heard not too far where Izzy was from, and he narrowed his eyes and listened intently. He thought he could discreetly hear the sound of a muffled cry for help, before it being silenced. If that thief was murdering the guards, he definitely was going to get it now.

Patience, he told himself. He would come for the statue sooner or later. Donning the helmet and making sure it was off, Izzy waited as the sound of quiet footsteps grew closer.

oo0OO0oo

zzy didn't feel right, there was the thief, right below him. But... he wasn't the one causing the noise. No. There was somebody else here. Izzy's suspicions were confirmed when a shadowy figure leaped out from behind a painting with an alcove in it, and went straight for the thief, a large knife evident in his hand.

Smacking the lights on, Izzy leaped to intercept the attacker, falling directly on top of him. He attempted to put the man in a choke hold, but released his grip when his hand was cut, blood already starting to flow. Twisting his body, he flung the man off to the side in time to see the thief whirl around, a confused expression on his face. "What the bloody hell?" He demanded.

"No time for this, either help me or I leave you to this." Izzy said, voice disguised by the electronics of his helmet. The thief hesistated, and Izzy growled, the sound amplified through his projector. Even the attacker was momentarily taken aback by it. "Or if you like, I could help stabby here kill you. Easier than an arrest."

That was enough the kick the man into action, and the thief reached for his weapon, the same one he had first tried to pull on Izzy before. "Dapper. Dapper Thief." Was all he said, before turning to the now cornered attacker.

Izzy, not particurally having a weapon, fell into a battle stance he had seen during one of his visions. The sight of a robotic ninja and an armed criminal was enough to send the assualter backpedaling, causing him to trip over a mislaid hammer. Falling flat on his/her back, Izzy could see it was not an ink creature, but one that more resembled an octopus.

Not really caring anyway, Izzy did a full frontal flip before landing next to the octo-creature, and lifting it up by the scruff of its' coat.

"Speak." Izzy spat out, attempting to be intimidating. Based on the reaction of the octo-creature, it was working.

"Octavio sent me here to steal the Zapfish statue back! When I saw that thief there, I decided it would be best to leave no witnesses." The octo-creature replied, squirming under the steel grip Izzy had. Snarling and tightening it even more, he said "So you murder an innocent guard, and were about to murder another person? Perhaps its' best if I take you and smear you over the wall, you'll have learned your lesson."

Dapper, however, was plain confused. "I thought Octavio was deposed from power?" He questioned.

"He is! But a certain group of us loyal octolings chose to follow him after Agent 3 defeated him the first time." The newly-dubbed octoling said.

Izzy brought him eye to eye level. It was silent, the only sound being Dapper shifting around and the occasional owl hoot.

"You're not worth the trouble." Izzy finally said. Backtracking and retreiving a pair of boneless handcuffs from the deceased guard, he took the octoling and locked him outside the empty security office, with the body of the guard on top of him.

Dapper looked at him with a sense of some respect. "Kid, I'll admit, that was pretty cool."

"Either you can help me take down this coup in octo-land or whatever, or I can ALSO turn YOU in to the cops." Izzy said, crossing his arms.

oo0OO0oo

By the time Dapper and Izzy had worked their way back to a large apartment type building, the sun was already rising, the edges of of it licking the horizion, creating a deep golden glow as inkopolis was waking up.

"I'm warning you, kid. Callie and Marie aren't exactly going to be happy when I bring you in, especially when they realize you were the one that attacked me the first time."

Izzy rolled his eyes, his helmet by his side. "You stole from someone first." He said plainly.

Dapper returned this with his own eye roll, before opening the main door leading to the small room inside.

"I'm back!" he called out, setting his hat on a rack near the door. Izzy reluctantly did the same with his helmet, and found the closet corner to sink into to. Izzy could hear a stiffled yawn, before a bleary-eyed inkling with black hair (tentacles?)

"Morning." She said nonchalantly. "How did it go?"

It was obvious she hadn't seen Izzy yet, the mix of tiredness and the fact he was wearing a black bodysuit standing in the corner. Even Dapper was momentarily confused before he spotted him. There was something about that inkling though, and Izzy couldn't put his finger on it...

"I ran into a bit of a problem." Dapper said, trying not to alarm the inkling.

"What kind of problem?" The inkling asked, more focused on waking up than anything else.

Hearing her voice for a second time, Izzy pinned it. She was one of the reporters on the news; the "Squid Sisters" as they were called. Why was she helping a criminal?

"I didn't get the statue, and was attacked by a crazy octoling. I also ran into that kid from the other time." Dapper said slowly, making sure she heard it all.

At this, she sprang up with an incredulous look on her face. "WHAT!?" She yelled. causing Dapper to wince at his proximity. "Are you okay? Did you hurt you? Does he know where you live? Does he-"

"Marie." Dapper intervened, cutting her off. "He saved my life from the octoling. He also agreed not to tell the police as long as I help him take down this coup Octavio started."

"He just let you walk away like that?" She asked, specticism clear in her voice.

"No, actually." Dapper half-coughed into his fist. "I brought him here to meet you..."

THe girl walked up to Izzy, before suddenly shouting in his face. "Do you know what you did to him!?" Before slapping him hard. Initially taken aback by her mood swing, Izzy grinned afterwards. "She slaps harder than you do." He teased Dapper.

Dapper rolled his eyes once more, before settling down at the table with a formal pose. Izzy continued to stand in the corner, watching the happenings of the house.

"Aren't you going to take a seat?" Asked the girl.

"Not hungry." Izzy replied, his ice blue eyes a stark contrast to the darkness he was shrouded in.

The girl shrugged before setting a plate back down on the counter. "I'll leave this here for you later. Oh, and my name Marie."

Izzy turned as a second girl emerged, in a state much like Marie was when she woke up. She however noticed Izzy.

"Um... you gonna introduce me to your friend over there guys?" She asked, a puzzled expression on her face.

"Oi, Kid! You got a name or we gonna let Callie name you?" Dapper teased him.

Izzy was silent for another moment, causing the room to descend into an akward silence.

"Delta." He said. "You can call me Delta."

Callie put a finger on her chin. "Hmmm you look more like... an Izzy!" She said joyfully.

Izzy's blood went cold. He tried his best not to leap on Marie now and demand how she knew that. He had only recently discoverd his own name... did she have a connection to him? No. It was best to pawn it off as a coincidence.

"If that's what you want to call me, go ahead." He said, shrugging while trying to retain his composure.

Izzy looked tense, but ultimately calmed, "If that's what you wanna call me, go ahead." He said, shrugging.

Dapper finished off his meal, "So kid, er- Izzy. How you get to be so strong?" He asked. Izzy tensed, was it obvious there was something he wasn't saying.

"Working out a lot...?" He stuttered.

Dapper chuckled, "What?"

"You had so much to say back at the museum and the plaza, but now you can't seem to find your vocal cords." Dapper teased, Izzy rolled his eyes.

"So says the thief."

Callie burst into laughter, "I make fun of him all the time for being a dirty thief." Callie told Izzy.

"Better than being a diva!" Dapper snapped. Callie simply stuck her round out at him. Izzy then cleared his throat, preparing to ask a question.

"If he's a thief. Why do you two help him?" He asked.

Marie was the one to answer, "I don't know. When we met him, he stole our jewelry, even held us at gun point. But after living with him, I realized that he's actually a great guy. I could have turned him over to the police, but..." Marie looked over to Dapper, who was having a toung sticking out contest with Callie, "I can't imagine my life with out him." When Marie finished, Izzy was taken back by her words. She would gladly go to jail, anything to not be apart from Dapper.

She was smitten with him... a thief.

"I can understand helping someone you have a strong bond with. I however cannot respect someone who steals for thier own personal gain. You can gain respect as a man, but you are always a thief untill the day you renounce your ways. Untill then, I can deal with it untill we take down the coup." Izzy said quietly. "I hope I can trust you." Izzy said, directing the comment towards Dapper.

With that, he slunk back into the corner. Dapper didn't seem to mind.

"At the very least, you stick to your ethics. I can respect that." Dapper replied.

Dapper walked over to Izzy, "You should be right not to trust me. If I were you, I wouldn't trust me either." Dapper told Izzy, "But if we are gonna work as a team, you're gonna have to suck it up and deal with me being a dirty rotten thief. Got it?" Dapper asked him.

Izzy seemed to nod, thinking about a possible huge mistake he could be making.

"Then welcome." He said to Izzy, extending his hand for a shake. The two shook hands, eliciting an "Awww!" From Callie. Dapper rolled his eyes, "You're sleeping on the couch if you got no place to go."

Izzy knew he didn't have a patricullary silent sleep pattern. Breaking his gaze away from Dapper, he remained where he was.

"I don't need to sleep tonight. If you don't mind, I'll stay in my corner." Izzy said nonchalantly.

"You can't be serious kid... everyone needs their sleep." Dapper said.

"Don't want to be rude, don't worry I promise I won't watch you while you sleep if that is what you're worried about." Izzy rebuttled.

Callie and Marie had shrugged, before going back off to bed. It WAS still 4:00am in the morning. Dapper met Izzy's gaze for a minute, before looking away and working his way to his room.

"Can't have you murdering me in my sleep..." Izzy murmured. He resigned himself to a sleepless night.


	3. Chapter 3

Izzy had a rough night. As in, he didn't sleep at all. He strained to stand up, as he has currently slumped against the wall and found his muscles protested every movement. He considered it a necessary pain, as he trusted Dapper little more than any other guttersnipe. Fully righting himself, he did light stretching before resuming his original position, as if to act like nothing happened. Callie came out of her room, rubbing her eyes and yawning loudly. Izzy raised his eyebrow and coughed into his fist. She jumped up, looking startled.

"Oh, you're actually still awake... I honestly didn't expect you to last this long." She said sheepishly, shifting nervously.

Izzy didn't bother replying, and instead focused on keeping his cool. His stomach betrayed him, however, as a large gurgle erupted from it. Izzy remembered he had hardly anything to eat, and upon receiving a playful smirk from Callie, he allowed himself to be led to the table.

A muffled conversation came from the hallway, before Dapper strode out, a smirk on his face. Dapper's grin widened when he saw the state Izzy was in. "So kid. You sleep well?"

Ignoring the obvious probe at his pride, Izzy simply nodded. Dapper shrugged before taking a seat at the table, the coffee machine whirring in the background. Izzy's stomach grumbled loudly, and before long, Callie had managed to drag him to the table.

Izzy found himself eating a tension-filled breakfast with Callie and Dapper. Not many words were exchanged outside please and thank you, but she seemed to be glad he was talking at all. He was back to his corner after the meal was finished, and Callie sat idly on the couch, obviously with something on her mind, but either too afraid or too nervous to say it.

Dapper was finishing off his coffee, and went to the bathroom to 'prepare for the day'. Marie eventually emerged from her room and looked almost as pissed as Izzy did. She and Izzy exchanged a nod before she went to sloppily make her breakfast.

Whatever Callie said to him was muffled by his own sleepiness. Izzy was pretty sure they were talking about cartoons when Dapper's voice cut through to his addled mind. "You still in that corner?" he asked, smirk evident on his face. Izzy lazily opened his eyes. "What's it to you?"

After getting dapper to leave him alone, Izzy watched them prepare to go to work; or wherever squid people went during the day. Dapper caught his eye and whistled annoyingly.

"What?" He asked, just wanting some solitude.

"You ain't staying here all day. You're coming with us to the studio; because SOME of us work for a living.' Dapper said, recieving a rude gesture from both Callie and Marie. "They have coffee and stuff there, you'll be fine. Now either come along or we'll drag you there."

Izzy wandered through the halls of the studio, ignoring the various crewman and other employees, and instead taking in the view of the building around him. He glanced over at the girls, who had recieved a new onslaught of helpers. "They seem busy." He said to himself.

"They always are, mate." Dapper said, catching Izzy off guard by approaching from behind. "Master of stealth here, don't let your guard down. Service tables are over here." He finished, leading Izzy to a large table filled with assorted refreshments.

"IF you drink any more coffee, your veins might explode." Izzy deadpanned, caught off-guard by the slight laugh he recieved. That either meant he thought it was a joke, or didn't take him seriously. Either way, Izzy wasn't particulary happy with this.

"So, if you don't mind a fellow asking, where ya from?" Dapper said.

"Why do you care?" Izzy said. In all honesty, he legitly didn't even know where he came from, but the fewer tools Dapper has the better.

"Just making conversation fill the silence." He responded, mock hurt in his voice.

"Don't," Izzy replied curtly. To his surprise, Dapper actually fulfilled the request, and he and Izzy sat in silence.

Dapper stood up and brushed some crumbs off of himself. "I gotta go do my job, be good mkay?"

Izzy ignored him as he walked past. A minute or two passed before Izzy realized he had no idea where he was going, or how to find Callie and Marie. He begrudgingly stood up and took off in the same direction Dapper went, receiving some strange looks from employees, probably due to him not only being another human, but also his... unique choice of attire.

Izzy got particularly aggravated a few minutes into his search, finding little more than curious employees who shrunk back after he gave them a nasty glare. He found himself back in the service area, fuming in his chair.

Not a moment later, Dapper strode into the room, prompting Izzy to scream internally. Neutralizing his expression, he stiffened as Dapper approached him.

"What do you want?" Izzy asked him.

"Got bored honestly, kid. You sure enjoy staying rooted to one spot." Dapper said.

"I don't see any reason to go anywhere else right now. Or is that an excuse for my laziness? Hell if I know." Izzy grumbled, leaning back in his seat.

"I can tell you're also bored out of your mind..." Dapper started.

"Oh really?" Izzy cut in.

"...so come with me to the studio. Something new to do." He finished, ignoring Izzy's outburst.

Izzy squinted at him. "What's the catch? No way you would do anything just to help me."

"Stop whining and follow me. Or stay here."

Izzy followed Dapper through a narrow hallway to a cafeteria, bristling with many inklings enjoying breakfast. "I thought we could maybe grab a bite to eat, get to know each other better, you know?"

He grabbed a tray with some assorted foods, before sitting at an empty table.

Izzy took nothing and silently sat across from him.

Izzy watched as Dapper took a slow bite out of a waffle, chewing deliberately before taking a sip of orange juice. He paused to give a questioning look at Izzy.

"What?" Izzy said, unsure of what he wanted.

"Tell me about yourself, if you wouldn't mind." Dapper said nonchalantly. "I'm not asking for a freebie, I'll tell you some of my juicy stories, too."

Izzy bit his lip. Why should he trust Dapper? All they had was a tension filled truce, nothing more. "Why?"

"Because." He started, pausing to wipe away a crumb with a napkin. "If I wanted you dead, kid, you'd be dead already."

Izzy's face twisted into a lopsided grin. "Same could be said about you, 'friend.' Oh, make no mistake, I'm SURE you've done a lot of questionable things in your life. But you have NO idea what I am capable of, and you don't need to know."

Dapper looked calmly at Izzy. "If you're trying to threaten me, it ain't working."

"THREATEN? Hardly. I'm stating the facts. But we teamed up for one reason; to stop the Octarians. You need someplace to rob that WON'T have guards breathing down your back, and I simply want to help the race that has so far exhibited the most kindness."

Izzy kept his cool while Dapper gave a small chuckle, and watched as he leaned back, taking another slow sip of his juice.

"Fine, guess I'll go first then. As you know, my name is Dapper Thief. It isn't my real name mind you, but it's the name I chose. I am a thief, a crook, a criminal, a treasure hunter, a bloody bad guy. I was raised by me dad, and dad alone, ironically enough, my dad is-er-was the detective assigned to bring me in and answer for my crimes. One night, I was hired to steal this brand new artifact from the Chicago Field Museum, but things went wrong and the guards swarmed me. When I gave them the slip, the bloody stone I took began to glow and I ended up thousands of years in the future. In Inkopolis. That's where I met Callie and Marie, they agreed to keep me a secret and continue my work as long as I pretend to be their bodyguard and help pay for things around the apartment."

Dapper took a final swig of his drink, setting the cup down with a rough bang on the table. He proceeded to lean on his elbows, drawing slightly closer to Izzy. "Alright, I told you my story. If you would kindly tell me yours."

(New)

Izzy shrugged. "There isn't much to tell. I lost most of my memories when I got here. Some things are slowly trickling back in, but I'll tell you what I got. You know me as Delta, with your pet name of Izzy. I was a trained soldier in something, was put in a cryogenic chamber, and now I'm here."

Dapper hardly looked convinced that Izzy had shared all he knew, but it was the truth, like it or not.

Dapper leaned in close, a slow grin spreading across his face. "Something here doesn't seem quite right. You wouldn't be withholding information from old Dapper now, would you?" His eyes fell on his watch. "Hmph. Tell me later, we have the rear end of a news report to listen in to. Come on, Raiden."

"...Raiden?" Izzy asked perplexedly.

"Cyborg ninja, your fancy suit reminds me of him," Dapper answered, leading Izzy through another set of hallways to a recording studio.

"And for Ranked Battles, we have Anchor Bay Games and Museum D' Alfonso," Callie reported. Marie nodded, "But before we go, we have more insight on the elusive thief that looms in the shadows of Inkopolis."

Dapper snickered, "Such a drama queen."

"He's been quiet, almost too quiet. He hasn't struck since the Octoling was found and arrested. But if you have any info, make sure to call the Inkopolis police." Marie reported.

"Well in the meantime." Callie started.

"Stay Fresh!" The two finished the report in unison. Both immediately walking over to the two humans after the director yelled cut. "Hey guys, where did you go?" Marie asked.

"Just went to grab a bite to eat." Dapper told the girls, "Well, let's get home. I have some planning to do." Izzy shot a glare to the master thief, "Oh sod off, our truce doesn't mean I can't plan future heists."

As the four began walking, Dapper stopped Izzy, "Do we even know when the Octolings will strike next? It was pure coincidence that we ran into the first one. Who knows when we will meet another.


End file.
